diff --git a/openssh/client/known_host.sls b/openssh/client/known_host.sls
index 82f66a2..03b2e05 100644
--- a/openssh/client/known_host.sls
+++ b/openssh/client/known_host.sls
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 include:
 - openssh.client.service
 
-{%- for user_name, user in client.user.iteritems() %}
+{%- for user_name, user in client.get('user', {}).iteritems() %}
 
 {%- for host in user.get('known_hosts', []) %}
 
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@
 
 {%- endfor %}
 
-{%- endif %}
\ No newline at end of file
+{%- endif %}
diff --git a/openssh/client/private_key.sls b/openssh/client/private_key.sls
index 508320f..5f114c9 100644
--- a/openssh/client/private_key.sls
+++ b/openssh/client/private_key.sls
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 include:
 - openssh.client.service
 
-{%- for user_name, user in client.user.iteritems() %}
+{%- for user_name, user in client.get('user', {}).iteritems() %}
 
 {%- if user.private_key is defined %}
 
diff --git a/openssh/client/service.sls b/openssh/client/service.sls
index 8ae01d5..276adf6 100644
--- a/openssh/client/service.sls
+++ b/openssh/client/service.sls
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
   - require:
     - pkg: openssh_client_packages
 
-{%- for user_name, user in client.user.iteritems() %}
+{%- for user_name, user in client.get('user', {}).iteritems() %}
 
 {%- if user.get('enabled', True) %}